Hook guard



t 1942- A. MEISENHEIMER 2,296,449

HOOK GUARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'iled Sept. 24, 1938 INVEI-VTOR.

A TTORNEY' Patente d Sept. 22, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOOK GUARD Armin Meisenheimer, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application September 24, 1938, Serial No. %1,453

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in methods of protecting fabric articles undergoing dry-cleaning, laundering, dyeing, or other treatment, from damage due to sharp metallic or other hard substance articles attached thereto and relates to an article of manuacture useful in carrying out such methods.

Heretofore, in laundering, dry-cleaning and dyeing fabric articles, for example, draperies and the like, tearing caused by metal hooks customarily attached to such articles has been experienced. Dry-cleaners in particular have found the likelihood of such damage to be highly probable and, as a consequence, have adopted the practice of either removing the hooks before drycleaning, to be later replaced, or enclosing the same by a covering strip of muslin securely handstitched in place. Each of these methods is laborious and expensive and the latter, although somewhat the cheaper, has a further disadvantage of masking that part o f the fabric zcovered from the action of the cleaning process.

By the method and with the article of this in- Vention, the removal of hooks or other sharp objects from the -fabric to be treated is avoided and at the same time such sharp objects are effectively prevented from any damaging action without masking any of the rfabric from the action of the cleaning, laundering, or dyeing bath.

In :practicing in accordance with this invention, the hooks or other sharp objects attached to the fabric to be treated are deprived of their damaging effects by guarding the same in a novel manner. According to this invention, an elastic, flexible guard, composed of heat-and-solvent resisting elastic composition comprising synthetically polymerized, unsaturated hydrocarbons, or hydrocarbons derivatives, is slipped over the hook and anchored in place. The synthetically polymerized, unsaturated hydrocarbon or hydrocarbon derivative, if desired, is compounded with the usual rubber fillers employing conventional rubber-compounding technique and articles having been shaped therefrom are set in final form by -polymerization or vul-canization. such compounding is performed in the well-known manner practiced in the compounding of synthetic rubber articles.

The guards thus formed are adapted to withstand the action of cleaning solvents, dye baths, 5

or laundering suds and washes at the temperatures normally employed there'cfor and, further, are adapted to withstand the temperatures prevailing in drying or deodorzing steps praactice d in conjunction therewith. The synthetically polymerized, unsaturated hydrocarbons or hydrocarbon derivatives I have found are well suited for such use and withstand the action of the various treating temperatures and fluids without softening to a point where the effectiveness of the guard is impaired, or to the point where disfiguring of the fabric by smears of decomposed guard material occurs. Elastic natural vulcanized rubber compositions, on the other hand, are not well suited to the purpose, being incapable o'f withstanding the treating conditions inposed in such treatment. Rubber, when thus employed, for example in dry-cleaning, softens materially under the influence of :cleaning solvents `and when the heat of the deodorizing step is applied, sometimes melts and disfigures the fabric with a sm'ear which can only be removed at great expense and with great difficulty.

This invention may best be described by reference to the accoxmpanying drawings attached hereto and forming a part hereof in which- Fig. 1 is a plan View of one form of the guard of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View, in section, of the guard shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a :plan view of another form of the guard of this invention;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken at the plane 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken at the plane 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a plan View of another form of the guard of this invention;

Fig. 7 is a sectiona view taken at the plane 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional View of &another form of the guard of this invention.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are perspective Views of the several forms of the guard of this invention, shown, with portions broken aw-ay, in position and acting as a guard for a metallic hook ap plied to a fabric article.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, one form of the guardof this invention is shown being made up of a body l of elastic molded polymerized unsaturated hydrocarbon or unsaturated hydrocarbon derivative. The composition suitable for this purpose may be compounded according to the well-known compounding technique for forming elastic bodies from any of the well-known synthetic rubber substances, such, for example, as are available under such trade designations as neoprene, chloroprene, duprene, isoprene and butadiene derivatives known a Buna and others. Herein, for convenience, all substances falling within this classification will be referred to as "heat and solvent resistant vulcanized synthetic elastic polymers." In referring to compounding technique for forming elastic bodies, I mean the treating steps by which the soft partly polymerized starting substance is converted into a stable elastic article which in the case of the substances named above is heat and solvent resistant. These steps include the step of vulcan- 60 izing by which the article is converted from its If desired, the elastic guard'ng body may be secured directly to the hook or other sharp, hard object which is to be protected. For example, as shown in Fig. 8, the elastic guard body of this invention may be provided with an integrally formed set-screw collar ZI, molded in place within the body 22. The body 22 is shaped as shown to furnish access to a set-screw 23 and at the same time to act as a guard for the head of setthe manner more clearly indicated in Fig. `9. In

Fig. 9 it will be noted that a hook 5 is shown afiixal in the usual manner by stitching 6 to the fabrie of the drapery 1. The end of hook 5 has been inserted; as shown, into the channel 2 in the body l of the guard and the whole has been anchored securely in place by pinning the safetypin 4 into the fabric of th drapery 'I and closing the sam as shown. i

It has been found that when a hook 5, such as is shown in Fig. 9, is protected as above described that the fabric article to which it is attached may be subjected to the usual dry-cleaning, washing, or dyeing operations without any danger or likelihood of th hook `5 catching and tearing any part of the fabric being treated.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 5, a somewhat more *flexible and adaptable form of guard body with anchor- I,

ing means secured thereto is shown. The guard thus constructed comprises a body portion -8 having an elongated channel therein, 9, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5. Molded within the body 8, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4, is an anchoring loop lo integrally formed as a-part of safetypin ll. The'body 8 thu formed, being composed of elastic material and without the stifiening effect of the loop 3 of the form of guard shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is of increased fiexibility. *A wide variety of size and shapes of hard, pointed arti-" cles, such as the ends of metal books even when curvilinear may be easily inserted into, th channel 9. This may be moreclearly observed by reference to Fig. 11 in which a guard body 8, with its attached anchorage means in the form of* safety-pin l l, is shown pinned in place upon fabric I2 and surrounding and guarding the bent end of drapery hook !3. It will be noted that the body &easily conforms to the curvature of the` end of hook [3. Fabric articleshaving hooks attached, protected as shown in Fig'. ll, may be treated without danger of damage from the hooks.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and '7, a simplified form of elastic guard member with anchorage means attached thereto i shown. The guard member is composed of a body [4 of elongated shape having an elongated channel !5 therein, as shown more clearly in Fig. 7. Integrally formed with th body !4 and projecting there-" from, is anchorage tab IG, in the form of a flat, projecting tongue, with a hole ll therein. The anchorage tab 16 may be provided with a safetypin l8, or other suitable pinning or anchoring means, as shown. The guard, when constructed in the form shown in Figs. 6 and 7, may be applied to a hook for protection of a fabric article, as shown more' clearly in Fig. 10, wherein the body `|4` of the guard is shown surrounding the end of hook !9, which is attached to fabric 26. The anchorage tab or tongue !6 is securely pinned in place by means of th safety-pin !8.

' cure by Letters Patent is:

screw 23. The manner in which the guard shown be protected is apparent from the Construction shown.

It will be readily apparent from the foregoing description that the hook guard of this invention may be rapidly and easily attached and detached at a great saving of time and expense over the previous practice of either removing the hooks from the fabric and then sewing them back in place after treatment, or the practice of sewing a shielding strip of muslin in place over the hooks and then later removing the muslin. Furthermore, it Will be apparent that the guard of this invention is self-adaptng to a Wide variety of sizes and shapes of books, due to its elastic character. By constructing my novel guard of synthetic rubber-like compositions which are resistant to the action of solvents and heat at the temperatures commonly employed in detergent treatment, additional advantageou results are obtained.

While there has been herein disclosed, for the 'purpose of illustration and description of this invention, specific adaptations thereof, it is intended that the protection of Letter-s Patent to be hereon granted be not unnecessarily limited thereby, but extend to the full measur of the advance herein disclosed and represented by the scope of the claim hereto appended.

What I claim as my invention and wish to se- A guard adapted to encase the sharp pointed end of a metal wire hook attached to a fabric article such as a drapery to prevent damag by said hook to such fabric article while undergoing cleaning treatment comprising an elongated finger-like body formed in one piece of heat and solvent resistant vulcanized synthetic elastic polymer, said body having a medially disposed longitudinal hole entering one end thereof and terminating short of the opposite end thereof, saidhole being adapted to receive and grip the sides of one of said Wire hooks at and near the end' thereof, the transverse dimensions of said body being several times the transverse dimension of said hole and of the wire hook to be accommodated therein so as to effectively' blunt th action of the sharp end of said wire hook, said body having transverse dimensions which are' about the same in all directions so that said body is capable of easy fieXure in any transverse direction for the accommodation of a non-rectilinear hook end; a projecting tab composed of the same material as said body integrally united therewith and disposed adjacent to the entrance end of said hole; and. looped pinning mean associated with said tab adapted to be opened to expose a pinnng point and closeable to protect said pinning point andto form a closed loop for attachng said finger like body to said textile article.

ARMIN MEISENHEIMER. 

